What's the difference between AU0009, AU0010, and AU0011?

AU0009 covers AI Strategy and Opportunity (where to invest, how to make the business case). AU0010 covers Adoption, Procurement and Governance (how to buy and govern AI safely). AU0011 covers Delivery and Organisational Transformation (how to drive adoption, change and measurable outcomes). They were published by Skills England on 21 April 2026 to replace the withdrawn AU0002.

How long is the full pathway?

Approximately 8 weeks for all three units delivered sequentially in one closed cohort. Each unit is 30 guided learning hours.

How much does the pathway cost?

£2,250 per learner across all three units, drawn from your Apprenticeship Levy account. Each unit is £750.

What cohort size do you recommend?

Closed cohorts of 6 to 15 senior leaders from a single organisation work best. Cohorts of 16+ can be split into parallel groups.

AI Leadership Pathway, 3 Units

Build AI leadership across your leadership team in 8 weeks.

All three new Skills England AI Leadership units delivered as one closed cohort for a single organisation. £2,250 per learner from your levy, no EPA, designed for groups of 8 to 15 senior leaders.

3 units

All Level 5

~8 weeks

Sequenced

£2,250

From levy

8–15

Per cohort

The three units, plain English

Skills England replaced the withdrawn AU0002 with three modular Level 5 units on 21 April 2026. Each is 30 guided learning hours, £750 from your levy, no end-point assessment.

AU0009

AI Strategy & Opportunity

Where AI creates value, the business case, sequencing investment, and pitching to the board.

For: CEOs, MDs, Strategy & Operations directors

AU0010

AI Adoption, Procurement & Governance

Vendor selection, governance frameworks, ethical implementation, risk and compliance.

For: Risk, Compliance, Procurement, IT leadership

AI Delivery & Transformation

AI Delivery & Organisational Transformation

Change management, workforce upskilling, embedding AI into processes, sustaining adoption.

For: Transformation, Programme, Change, Senior Ops leaders

TESS Group · Signature unit

Most providers will sell you the AI Strategy & Opportunity unit. We'd start with the AI Delivery & Transformation unit.

Strategy is necessary but not sufficient. Most failed AI rollouts didn't fail at the deck stage, they failed at adoption. The AI Delivery & Transformation unit is where the actual ROI is won or lost. We anchor every closed cohort on it for a reason.

Lands measurable adoption above 50%, the threshold above which AI investment becomes self-funding.
Brings change management, workforce planning and process redesign into one room with senior leaders.
Is the unit competitors are quietly under-marketing because it's harder to teach than strategy.
Sequences naturally after AI Strategy & Opportunity and AI Adoption & Governance units, your team builds toward it across the 8 weeks.

Two free tools, figure out where to start in 3 minutes.

No email, no signup, no sales call. Just answer a few honest questions and we'll tell you which units fit, or if a closed-cohort full pathway is the right move.

For the employer · L&D & HR

Employer fit assessment

Seven questions diagnosing where your organisation is in its AI journey. Tells you which units fit the gap and whether a full closed cohort is the right ROI for your leadership team.

7 questions Org-level diagnosis Cohort sizing built in

Start the assessment →

For the learner · Senior leader

Learner unit picker

Six role-based questions for the individual senior leader. Tells you which unit lines up with your role, where your gap is, and what to take to your line manager.

6 questions Role-based Personal fit profile

Start the picker →

How the closed cohort works.

We run this as a closed cohort for a single organisation, not as a rolling open programme. Here's why that matters and what it looks like in practice.

8–15

senior leaders · one organisation · one cohort

Single-employer cohort. Your leadership team learns together, with the same business context, the same data sensitivities, and the same change agenda.
Sequenced over ~8 weeks. The AI Strategy & Opportunity unit first (strategy), AI Adoption & Governance next (governance), AI Delivery & Transformation last (delivery and transformation). Each unit ~3 weeks.
Live online + workplace project. Fortnightly half-day workshops; cohort applies learning to a single shared business problem in their own organisation.
Levy-funded throughout. £2,250 per learner from your levy account, drawn down as each unit completes. No EPA, no waiting list.
Senior-leader-only environment. The cohort is calibrated for director-level upward, no mixed-level dynamics that dilute conversation.

Stack the units, stack the funding.

Each unit is £750 from levy. You can take one, two, or all three, but the levy economics make the full pathway hard to argue against for a leadership team that's actually going to use AI at scale.

Pathway choice Per learner Duration Best for

One unit only £750 ~3-4 weeks Single specific gap

Two units (sequential) £1,500 ~5-6 weeks Mid-maturity orgs

Full pathway (all three) £2,250 ~8 weeks Leadership teams of 6 to 15 driving full AI rollout

A cohort of 12 leaders on the full pathway = £27,000 of leadership development drawn entirely from your levy account. Compare with one Russell-Group exec-MBA module at the same price, for one person.

Frequently asked.

Quick answers on the things L&D buyers always ask in the first call.

What changed in April 2026 with AU0002?

Skills England withdrew AU0002 (the original single AI Leadership unit) on 21 April 2026 and replaced it with three more focused Level 5 units, AI Strategy & Opportunity, AI Adoption & Governance and AI Delivery & Transformation. The change reflected market feedback that one unit couldn't credibly cover Strategy + Governance + Delivery in 30 hours. Read more in our unit split blog post.

Why a closed cohort? Why not rolling intakes?

A closed single-employer cohort produces three things you can't get from rolling intakes: shared business context (peers from the same org), confidential discussion (same NDAs already in place), and a shared transformation project (cohort applies learning to one specific business problem). Rolling intakes work for individuals; closed cohorts work for leadership teams driving change.

What's the minimum cohort size?

We recommend 6 leaders as the floor, below that the peer-learning effect drops off and the closed-cohort economics don't work. The sweet spot is 10–14. Above 16 we'd typically split into two parallel cohorts.

Is there an end-point assessment?

No. AI Leadership apprenticeship units have no EPA. Each unit is evidenced by portfolio submission against the unit's Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours, signed off by your TESS Leadership Coach. Faster cycle, cleaner sign-off, fewer scheduling dependencies.

Who delivers the cohort?

Each cohort is led by a TESS Leadership Coach with senior-leader operational experience, not just academic credentials. We pair the lead with module specialists for the AI Adoption & Governance unit (governance/legal) and AI Delivery & Transformation (transformation/change) where the depth requires it.

Can we mix and match, say the AI Strategy & Opportunity and AI Delivery & Transformation units only?

Yes. You can run any combination. The AI Strategy & Opportunity then AI Adoption & Governance sequence is the most common 2-unit choice (Strategy → Governance). The AI Strategy & Opportunity and AI Delivery & Transformation pairing also works well for orgs that already have governance solved. Use the employer fit assessment for a tailored read.

How does this fit with our existing AI & Automation L4 apprentices?

Beautifully. The L4 apprentices are practitioners building automations day-to-day; the L5 units are for the leadership above them setting strategy, governing the spend, and driving adoption. Many of our employers run both streams concurrently, leaders and practitioners learning the same vocabulary.

What if we already trained leaders on AU0002 before it was withdrawn?

Their AU0002 completion remains valid. The replacement units don't invalidate prior training, but the new modular structure means it's worth picking the most relevant of the three (typically AI Adoption & Governance or AI Delivery & Transformation) as a top-up, not redoing strategy content they've already covered.